Early Life
Chase was born in New Jersey with ambiguous genitalia that baffled doctors. According to the New York Times, her parents originally named her Brian Sullivan, noting that "Chase is XX, and the reason for her intersex condition has never been fully understood." Other sources state her original name was Charlie, since until recently Chase preferred to use pseudonyms when referring to her early life.
Chase told Salon she was born with "mixed male/female sex organs" and after the discovery of ovaries and a uterus, a clitoridectomy was performed when she was aged 18 months. Her parents, as advised by doctors, moved to a new town and raised her as a girl, Bonnie Sullivan. Although she had begun speaking before the operation, she fell silent for six months afterwards.
She told Salon that she developed ovotestis at age 8 (later clarified as "the testicular part of her ovo-testes"). She found out about the clitorectomy aged 10, and at age 21 succeeded in gaining access to her medical records (some sources say this occurred in her early thirties).
Read more about this topic: Cheryl Chase (activist)
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